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Civil War Timeline
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Jefferson Davis comes out in favor of secession for the first time. Little do the people of the United States know that this will become their reality in the coming years.
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Republican Convention is held in Chicago, Illinois. William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase and Abraham Lincoln of Illinois are the leading contenders from a field of 12 candidates. Lincoln wins on the third ballot.
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Governor William Henry Gist notifies other Deep South states that South Carolina is considering secession as an option. The idea of secession is now being considered by many southern states.
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Lincoln becomes 16th President of the United States. He represented the Republican Party.
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James Chesnut becomes the first Southerner to resign from the Senate. He is quickly followed by James H. Hammond. Many more Southern senators will soon follow in their footsteps.
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Major Robert Anderson reports Fort Sumter is being threatened in Charleston as federal forces begin to improved Fort Moultrie and Fort Sumter in the harbor. First signs of aggression from the South become present.
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Outgoing President James Buchanan sends a distressed State of the Union message to Congress. In it he states that secession is unconstitutional, says the federal government lacks the authority to prevent it and calls for a constitutional amendment allowing Southern states to retain slaves as property. This is a last ditch effort to try to keep the United States as one.
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The first Secession Convention meets in Columbia, South Carolina. Representatives from different southern states meet to talk about future plans.
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Crittenden Compromise was proposed by United States Senator John J. Crittenden that aimed to resolve the secession crisis happening in the United States. He addressed the fears and grievances about slavery that many slave-holding states had.
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South Carolina becomes the first southern state to seceed from the Union. Starts dominoe effect and other states start to leave.
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Missisppi becomes the second southern state to seceed from the Union.
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Florida becomes the thrid southern state to secede from the Union.
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Alabama becomes the fourth southern state to secede from the Union.
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Louisiana becomes the sixth southern state to secede from the Union.
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Texas becomes the seventh southern state to secede from the Union.
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The Confederate States of America is formed with Jefferson Davis, a West Point graduate and former U.S. Army officer, as president. More states will soon leave the United States to join.
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Captured by the Confederate soldiers. Was considered an aggressive act, therefore war was declared.
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Virginia becomes the eighth southern state to secede from the Union. The South's capital is located in this state.
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Confederates defeat the Union in the first real battle of the Civil war. Union troops retreat back to Washington
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President Lincoln appoints McClellan as general-in-chief of all Union forces after the resignation of the aged Winfield Scott. McClellan attended West Point when he was 15 years old; he is very inteligent.
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President Lincoln issues General War Order No. 1 calling for all United States naval and land forces to begin a general advance by February 22, George Washington's birthday.
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Gen. Ulysses S. Grant is the victor in Tennessee, capturing Fort Henry, and ten days later Fort Donelson. Grant earns the nickname "Unconditional Surrender".
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President Lincoln temporarily relieves McClellan as general-in-chief and takes direct command of the Union Armies.
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A Confederate surprise attack on Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's unprepared troops at Shiloh ends in a bitter struggle with 13,000 Union killed and wounded and 10,000 Confederates, which is more men than in all previous American wars combined.
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The Seven Days Battles as Lee attacks McClellan near Richmond, resulting in very heavy losses for both armies. McClellan then begins a withdrawal back toward Washington.
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After four months as his own general-in-chief, President Lincoln hands over the task to Gen. Henry W. Halleck. Halleck was an expert in military tactics but was known as "Old Brains".
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5,000 Federals under Gen. John Pope are defeated by 55,000 Confederates under Gen. Stonewall Jackson and Gen. James Longstreet at the second battle of Bull Run in northern Virginia. Once again the Union Army retreats to Washington.
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The bloodiest day in U.S. military history. Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Armies are stopped at Antietam, Maryland by McClellan and a great number of Union forces. By night 26,000 men are dead, wounded, or missing. Lee then withdraws to Virginia.
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Abraham Lincoln replaces McClellan with Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside as the new Commander of the Army of the Potomac. Lincoln had grown impatient with McClellan's slowness to follow up on the success at Antietam.
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Army of the Potomac under Gen. Burnside suffers a costly defeat at Fredericksburg in Virginia with a loss of 12,653 men after 14 frontal assaults on well entrenched Rebels on Marye's Heights.
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President Lincoln issues the final Emancipation Proclamation freeing all slaves in territories held by Confederates and emphasizes the enlisting of black soldiers in the Union Army.
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The U.S. Congress enacts a draft, affecting male citizens aged 20 to 45, but also exempts those who pay $300 or provide a substitute.
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The Union Army, led by Gen. Hooker is defeated by Gen. Lee's much smaller forces at the Battle of Chancellorsville in Virginia as a result of Gen. Lee's brilliant and daring tactics.
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Gen. Hooker retreats. Union losses are 17,000 killed, wounded and missing out of 130,000. The Confederates, 13, 000 out of 60,000. Abraham Lincoln is very dissapointed in his army's preformance.
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Confederate Gen. Jackson dies from a previous incident in which he was mortally wounded by his own soldiers. Stonewall Jackson was on of the most respected generals in the war.
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Gen. Lee of the Confederates commences his second invasion into the North. Him and 75,000 other Confederates are headed towards Pennsylvania where eventually Gettysburg will happen.
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After a rough defeat for Gen. Hooker in Chancellorsville, Abraham Lincoln has no choice but to fire him and hire a new general for his army. He appoints George G. Meade to the position.
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The most famous battle of the Civil War starts off with a little skirmish in the outskirts of a small market town but ends up involving over 160,000 Americans. The Confederates suffered a defeat from Gen. Meade even though his men were outnumbered at first.
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President Lincoln delivers one of the most famous speeches of American History at the site where the Battle of Gettysburg took place. The speech outlines how the coutnry must work as one and that the battlefield would be dedicated as a cemetary for all of the fallen soldiers.
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The Confederates siege Union forces but are quickly stopped by Gen. Grant of Union Army. Union soldiers scream "Chickamauga! Chickamauga!" throughout the battle to remind peers to avenge their defeat at the Battle of Chickamauga about a month before.
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President Lincoln appoints Gen. Grant to command all of the armies of the United States. Gen. William T. Sherman succeeds Grant as commander in the west.
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In the west, Sherman, with 100,000 men begins an advance toward Atlanta to engage Joseph E. Johnston's 60,000 strong Army of Tennessee. This is all part of Sherman's master plan to eventually have the March to the Sea and destroy the land from Atlanta to Savannah.
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A costly mistake by Gen. Grant results in 7,000 Union casualties in twenty minutes during an offensive against fortified Rebels at Cold Harbor in Virginia.
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Union forces miss an opportunity to capture Petersburg and cut off the Confederate rail lines. As a result, a nine month siege of Petersburg begins with Grant's forces surrounding Lee.
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Democrats nominate George B. McClellan for president to run against Republican incumbent Abraham Lincoln. McClellan was the former Gen. of Union forces, but was fired by Lincoln.
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After about 2 months, Atlanta is captured by Sherman's Army. "Atlanta is ours, and fairly won," Sherman telegraphs Lincoln. The victory greatly helps President Lincoln's bid for re-election. Atlanta was a very important city for the South, as it served as one of the biggest rail and commercial centers in North America.
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Abraham Lincoln is re-elected as the president, defeating Democrat George B. McClellan. Lincoln carries all but three states with 55 percent of the popular vote and 212 of 233 electoral votes.
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After destroying Atlanta's warehouses and railroad facilities, Sherman, with 62,000 men begins the famous March to the Sea. President Lincoln approves the idea after Sherman does a good job of convincing him.
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Hood's Rebel Army of 23,000 is crushed at Nashville by 55,000 Federals including Negro troops under Gen. George H. Thomas. The Confederate Army of Tennessee ceases as an effective fighting force.
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Sherman reaches Savannah, Georgia, leaving behind a 300-mile long path of destruction 60 miles wide all the way from Atlanta. On his march, Sherman destroyed thousands of acres of Georgia cotton fields like this along with numerous cotton gins and mills, which put a dent in the South's economy.
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The U.S. Congress approves the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, to abolish slavery. The amendment is then submitted to the states for ratification.
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A peace conference occurs in Virginia President Lincoln meets with Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens at Hampton Roads, but ends in failure - the war will continue.
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Grant's forces begin a general advance and break through Lee's lines at Petersburg. Lee evacuates Petersburg. The Confederate Capital, Richmond, is evacuated. Fires and looting break out. The next day, Union troops enter and raise the Stars and Stripes.
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Gen. Robert E. Lee surrenders his Confederate Army to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at the village of Appomattox Court House in Virginia. Grant allows Rebel officers to keep their sidearms and permits soldiers to keep horses and mules.
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Celebration breaks out in Washington after hearing of Gen. Lee's surrender. President Lincoln takes his final portrait of the war and it is easy to tell how stressful the years were.
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The Stars and Stripes is ceremoniously raised over Fort Sumter. That night, Lincoln and his wife Mary see the play "Our American Cousin" at Ford's Theater. During the third act of the play, John Wilkes Booth, an actor, shoots the president in the head.
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President Abraham Lincoln dies at 7:22 in the morning, the day after he was shot in the head. Vice President Andrew Johnson assumes the presidency.
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John Wilkes Booth is found by Union Cavalry in a tobacco barn about 60 miles south of Ford's Theatre. The forces surrounded the barn and eventually killed the assassin.
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Remaining Confederate forces surrender. The Nation is reunited as the Civil War ends. Over 620,000 Americans died in the war, with disease killing twice as many as those lost in battle. 50,000 survivors return home as amputees.
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The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, passed by Congress on January 31, 1865, is finally ratified. Slavery is abolished.
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New Freedman's Bureau bill passed by Congress. President Andrew Johnson vetoes the bill that authorized military trial for those accused of "depriving Negroes of the Civil Rights" on the same day. This shows how Johnson wanted to quickly restore the previously seceded states.
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President Johnson vetos the Civil Rights Act of 1866 on the grounds that it was unconstitutional. Eventually Congress overrides the President's veto. The act states that every citizen of the Untied States is to be treated equally.
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The United States declares that a state of peace exists with Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Restoration is now possible because.
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The 14th Amendment is officially approved. This amendment was created to fill any possible loopholes in the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and prevent congress from possibly overturning the Act is following years.
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Connecticut becomes the first state to approve the 14th Amendment. Many more states will soon follow in these steps.
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Tennessee ratifies the 14th Amendment. This is ironic because they are the first state that seceded from the Union that ratify the Amendment. This quick ratification meant Tennessee would not suffer under 2nd Reconstruction.
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Congress establishes "general of the armies"; Ulysses S. Grant is immediately promoted to 4-star general and put in this position. William Tecumseh Sherman assumes the rank of Lt. General. These two Generals from the Civil War had great success.
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The U. S. Secret Service begins an investigation into the Ku Klux Klan. This group is starting to ramp up because of the Confederates defeat in the Civil War.
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Texas becomes the first state to reject the 14th Amendment. Texas did not accept the proclamation of peace issued by President Andrew Johnson 2 months earlier.
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Ironically on the 6th anniversary of their secession, South Carolina rejects the 14th Amendment. Suth Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union
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Blacks in Washington D. C. gain the right to vote in a bill passed over President Andrew Johnson's veto
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West Virginia ratifies the 14th Amendment. This is surprising because West Virginia was known for being more confederate than Virginia, who rejected the Amendment. Ironic because most confederate states rejected the 14th Amendment.
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Most of Nebraska becomes the 37th state of the United States of America. The capitol is moved from Omaha to Lancaster, later renamed Lincoln after the recently assassinated President.
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Congress passes the Tenure of Office Act, denying the right of the President to remove officials who had been appointed with the consent of Congress. President Johnson had previously abused his powers in office, therefore Congress had to make this act.
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Alexandria, Virginia rejects thousand of votes cast by Negroes, who were granted universal suffrage under the Reconstruction Act. This was now illegal.
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The Second Reconstruction Act supplemented the First Reconstruction Act. The First Reconstruction Act left the Southern States in confusion to whose role it was to reinforce the legislation and this filled any misconceptions of the first one.
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William P. Seward signs a treaty with Russia buying Alaska for 2 cents an acre which is a very affordable price for the time. Democrats called it "Seward's Folly" and ridiculed Seward since the land seemed pointless. But after a few years gold and other natural resources were found.
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Congress passes a bill admitting Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, and South Carolina into the Union. Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas, who refused to ratify the fourteenth amendment, were refused admission into the Union. The other Southern States agreed to ratify the Amendment, therefore they received admission into the Union.
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President Andrew Johnson demands the resignation of Edwin Stanton. Stanton served as Secretary of War under President Lincoln's Office. A few days later Stanton is suspended by Johnson.
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Congress looks into the impeachment of President Johnson because of the incident with Edwin Stanton in which he was dismissed from office by Johnson even though the Senate had voted not to concur with his dismissal and had ordered him reinstated.
